Consumer spending on Internet access and digital entertainment continues to rise

Consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, in its Entertainment & Media Outlook 2015-2019, estimates that consumers appetite for digital entertainment and content remains insatiable and will approach $220 billion this year, more than half of which will be spent on Internet connectivity.

Spending on Internet access will increase nearly 13% in 2015 to $130.2 billion. The US Internet bill, which includes mobile Net access, too, will continue to rise about 11% to $195 billion in 2019. Along the way, those using mobile Net connections is expected to increase nearly 5% to 292.8 million US subscribers. Overall entertainment and media spending is expected to increase at about 5% to $595 billion. But spending on digital content is rising at a faster pace and will nearly match that of traditional or legacy content within five years, amounting to 46% of overall spending up from 34% in 2014.